Just got my first AMC, an 83 eagle.

[Johnknp]

Im happy to become part of the forums here, i just got an 83 eagle sx4 with the 151 iron duke and a 4 speed manual.  Its good enough to drive around (drove it 40 miles to get it home)  but it needs a lot.  It was a barn car for around 18 years and only has 66,000 original miles.  the body is pertty good shape and is rust free except for the passenger side rocker panel.  Under the hood is a different story though.  my vacuum system is more modified (poorly too) than stock and theres jb weld invovled.  The previous owner decided to 'fix' the barn car back up and did more damage than good choosing to cut corners rather than spend money.  I gave him 800 for the car and he threw in the largely useless chiltons manual.

I have some major priorities before im starting the car again.  Im going to pull the gas tank and clean it, new fuel filter, carb rebuild, new plugs/wires.  all that is well with my experience level.  Heres were im scratching my head and hoping for the help of someone who is more knowledgeable and/or has had the same experience already:

problem 1:  breaks work fine till the car warms up, then the calipers start to contract and break on their own, its smooth and progressive as if the operator is purposefully slowly slowing down.  It seems as if the system is just building to much pressure.  If the operator, after driving about 7-10 miles pulls over, leaves it running, bleads the brakes to release the excess pressure the car will break fine no matter how longer you drive it and never build the excess pressure back up until the car has been shut off and cooled down.  The previous owner was honest and explained the problem to me but he blamed it on a 'brake pressure sensor' and pointed to what chiltons calls the ignition advance CTO valve as the culprit.  He said he was unable to find a replacement as nobody carries them anymore.  I dont think this valve has anything to do with the brakes but i may be wrong.  pics available on photobucket link below.

problem 2: no alternator at all.  was being put on a wall charger before driving by previous owner.  i tried to get an alternator from advance and they asked me about the pulley size that was on the alternator on the car.  I dont have a clue and they said that their were multiple pulley sizes uses and it had to match to provide proper charging. 

problem 3: giant pump in the back seat that has a bracket still bolted to it.  the bracket looks like it belongs where the alternator should go but this is a hydraulic pump. can anybody tell me what it is?  I have power steering and power breaks already and they work fine so......  pics availabe on photobucket link

problem 4: the exterior appearance of everything involving the 4 wheel drive system underneath the car seems fine but the 4 wheel drive does not engage.  I drove it home in the rain and in both 2 and 4 wheel drive it will roast the back tires on a wet road.   the first time i tried to enter 4 wheel drive (i followed the instructions on the switch, stop vehicle, pull, etc.) and it made a little pahffff noise kinda like a release of air from a 2 liter and nothing happened.  I wonder if the switch is vacuum ran and needs work there or if there is serious work needed in the front 4 wheel drive system.

Im also interested in eliminating any of the systems/sensors/valves/ stuff that was meant to help emissions during warmup etc.  if anybody has any advice on this I would be happy to make the 'under the hood' scene as simple as possible.  I dont want to remove anything that will hurt mpg after achieving running temperature but all else is up for grabs.  I dont have emissions testing in my state, good ole KY.

heres some pics of what ive got.  thanks for everything guys. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.
http://s1182.photobucket.com/albums/x455/johnknp/

[WoodenBirdOfPrey]

Welcome to the forums. 

The pump you found in the back seat is the A/C compressor, unless Im out of my mind.  It sure looks like one to me.

With the braking issue, that sounds like a bad master cylinder to me.  When the pedal is released it's supposed to let the pressure back out of the lines, and pressure shouldn't be able to build again until the pedal is pressed again.  It could theoretically also be a bad brake line if it was doing it only on one wheel.  Sometimes rubber hoses fail in such a way that they come apart internally, and create a flap of rubber that acts like a check valve holding pressure one way.

More than likely, with it sitting that long, the vacuum motor on the transfer case is sticking, causing your 4wd issue.  Knowing that you have vacuum issues, maybe you're just not getting enough vacuum to the switch due to leaks elsewhere in the system.

[WoodenBirdOfPrey]

Yeah, and the rims gotta go!  I never saw somebody put those on an Eagle before.  Usually it's some urban hip hop fool that put stuff like that on a 4wd... kinda defeats the purpose of 4wd and ground clearance.

I have only been around a few Eagles, and all of them were the 4.2's, but if they laid out the iron duke the same the a/c compressor would be up top, and the alternator goes underneath it.  I'm pretty sure at least the compressor would be in the same location.

The severed line you found in front of the radiator looks like the A/C condenser.

[Johnknp]

awesome stuff already, thanks.  I didnt even think about an A/C line and the pump being a A/C compressor, i feel kinda dumb for not thinking about it, but i was told by the guy (even less mechanically inclined than me apparently) that the car never had A/C from the factory and that was stuck in my head for a few days before i picked up the car, drove it home and found the pump in the back floor boards.  I kept thinking about an alternator going where the A/C pump goes, but i have the car with A/C even though the A/C is in a dissaray, I bet the diagram PeterM sent me that has the alternator under the PS pump is where I need to look. Im gonna replace the brake lines first and see how it goes before changing the master cylinder as i want new brake lines no matter what.  thanks for the advice everybody, Me and my son are gonna go start tinkering!! 

[maddog]

good looking sx/4, now i see that it is missing the fender flares do you have them or were they missing when you got it? as for the rims if you plan on going offroad then yeah you should definitely find some nice offroad rims as the ones that are currently on there will get trashed the first time you go offroad.

[carnuck]

NVM. I found the pic. Definitely a dookie!

[rohnk]

Great score and nice shop!

[HappyPappy]

awesome stuff already, thanks.  I didnt even think about an A/C line and the pump being a A/C compressor, i feel kinda dumb for not thinking about it, but i was told by the guy (even less mechanically inclined than me apparently) that the car never had A/C from the factory and that was stuck in my head for a few days before i picked up the car, drove it home and found the pump in the back floor boards.  I kept thinking about an alternator going where the A/C pump goes, but i have the car with A/C even though the A/C is in a dissaray, I bet the diagram PeterM sent me that has the alternator under the PS pump is where I need to look. Im gonna replace the brake lines first and see how it goes before changing the master cylinder as i want new brake lines no matter what.  thanks for the advice everybody, Me and my son are gonna go start tinkering!! 

  May want to change the fuel pump before you put all that A/C stuff back on. It's under the alternater, real pane to get at!!

[Johnknp]

fender flares were in the truck and in good shape,  think im gonna keep it A/C free, i never ues it anyway and id rather spend my money and time elsewhere on the project.   I have a minor oil leak im going to try to figure out the origin of and get fixed up next. 

[Johnknp]

is there anywhere i can buy the parts of vacuum system like a Ignition advance cto valve, reverse delay valve, ignition advance control solenoid, etc.  Ive decided to remove the entire vacuum system and replace everything as my Ignition advance CTO valve is repaired with JB weld, all the reverse delay valves have been removed and bypassed, and lots of stuff is plain plumbed wrong.  I just cant find anywhere that cells this items. 

[Johnknp]

I just answered my own question, I had searched for hours with no luck but after posting for help i found it.  Go figure.  If i look for ported vacuum switch I find exactly what im looking for.  haha. 

[Johnknp]

As my system is completely missing teh 2 reverse delay vacuum valves, I need somebodies help in identifying which color codes i need to get.

Theres a single reverse delay valve between the TAC temp sensor and the TAC valve and a dual reverse delay valve between the ignition advance CTO valve and the canister among other things. 

If anybody knows what delay color codes go in these spots I would owe you a cold one.  just for clarification its  a 151, manual, factory A/C 83 sx4.

Oh, and I keep seeing an Eagle DL Sx4 and an Eagle Sx4 as im selecting models for parts.  whats the difference?

[jim]

It may be well to keep your precise location secret.  Otherwise you may come home and find some Eagle owners lined up wanting to get into that shop.

[shanebo]

Looks like a good project car...The plus side of the iron dukes is GM used those things in everything from fieros to s-10's to Grumman delivery vehicles during its production run from 77'-92'. There is still alot of them out there so engine parts atleast are plentiful.

[Johnknp]

http://www.amceaglenest.com/~iowaeagl/guide/index.php?title=Vacuum_Lines_Made_simple

this has got me all excited, its a way to simplify the vacuum system... only it doesnt specify an engine.  Does it work on the 151 iron duke?  and what do i do with the ignition advance cto valve (3 port ported vacuum valve) that screws into the thermostat housing, would have to put a bolt in there i would assume? or leave the valve in it and put plugged shorty vac lines on it? I couldnt figure out on the eaglepdia who wrote this, but I would love to have more info on this topic as I am about to do a complete vac overhaul anyway and would greatly prefer not being nickled and dimed on all the vac valves and reversers.